Employment Tribunal Solicitors

Unfair dismissal refers to the termination of an employee’s contract by their employer without a potentially fair reason or in a manner which is considered to be procedurally unfair. 

Employees with at least two years of continuous service are generally protected against unfair dismissal. However, certain dismissals, like those involving whistleblowing or health and safety, may not require the two year service period for protection.

The potentially fair reasons for dismissal include conduct, performance or capability, redundancy, legal requirements, statutory restrictions, or some other substantial reason (SOSR). However, employers must follow a fair and reasonable process prior to dismissing an employee. 

Automatic unfair dismissal is a specific category of dismissal that is deemed to be automatically unfair. To be able to claim automatic unfair dismissal an employee does not require a minimum length of service. Automatically unfair reasons for a dismissal include but are not limited to:

• Dismissal related to whistleblowing
• Dismissal related to family reasons (i.e. in connection with child birth, statutory maternity/paternity leave)
• Dismissal for a health and safety reason
• Dismissal for asserting a statutory legal right
• Dismissal for acting as an employee or trade union representative
• Dismissal for being a part-time or term-time employee

An unlawful deduction from wages claim arises when an employer withholds or deducts money from an employee’s wages without proper legal justification or without the employee’s consent.

Employers can make lawful deductions from wages if you are legally required to do so, authorised under the terms of the employment contract or when the employee has given their consent for the deductions to be made. 

Individuals who have experienced discrimination or unfair treatment based on their protected characteristics, can bring a discrimination claim. There is no minimum length of service required to bring a claim, and individuals are protected from discrimination from the beginning of their employment or engagement. This includes the application process. 

There are several types of discrimination claims. These include:

• direct discrimination (treating someone less favourably because of a protected characteristic)
• indirect discrimination (applying a provision, criterion or practice that disproportionately affects a certain group)
• discrimination arising from a disability
• harassment (unwanted conduct relating to a particular characteristic)
• victimization
• failure to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees

The protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 are

• Disability

• Gender Reassignment
• Marriage and civil partnership
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Race
• Religion or belief
• Sex
• Sexual orientation
• Age

Our team of employment lawyers can assist you with all employment law related claims including (but not limited to):

• Unfair dismissal
• Constructive dismissal
• Wrongful dismissal
• Breach of Contract
• Equal Pay claims
• Discrimination claims
• Whistleblowing

The employment tribunal apply strict time limits. Generally speaking, you have three months less one day from the act giving rise to your claim in order to bring the claim. There are some exceptions to this rule but fundamentally it is this time limit which applies to most claims. The time limit may be extended by the ACAS early conciliation process. 

Once you have been through the ACAS Early Conciliation Process and have an ACAS early conciliation certificate you can bring a claim by completing the ET1 form online. However, we would not recommend doing so without first taking advice on your position so your claim can be presented in the strongest possible manner. Our team of specialised employment lawyers will be able to advise on the process in more detail and assist with drafting the claim. 

Ordinarily the parties to an employment tribunal claim will each bear their own costs. In rare circumstances the tribunal may make cost awards up to a maximum of £20,000. This will only happen in limited circumstances where a party has acted unreasonably. 

The compensation limits are increased every year in April. For 2023/4 the maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal is £105,707 or 52 weeks pay, depending on which is the lowest. The Awards for discrimination claims and automatic unfair dismissal are uncapped. 

Employers can make lawful deductions from wages if you are legally required to do so, authorised under the terms of the employment contract or when the employee has given their consent for the deductions to be made.